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WestJet Airlines admits that it experienced some teething pains as it launched wide-body service to London’s Gatwick Airport this spring, but remains bullish on flying internationally.

“Teething pains are teething pains,” said president and CEO Gregg Saretsky noting these issues occur when a new fleet is introduced, as it did when it starting flying Q400 turboprops on its regional airline.

“It was a blip, and the blip is behind us, knock on wood,” he said during a conference call with analysts Tuesday, after reporting second-quarter profits of $36.7 million, down from $61.6 million in the same period a year earlier.

Saretsky acknowledged the flight delays and cancellations due to maintenance issues as WestJet began flying across the pond. The airline also offered deeply discounted fares as competitors added seats on routes to London in hopes of squeezing WestJet out.

He said the airline has purchased spare parts, as well as moving planned maintenance into the fourth quarter, in hopes of avoiding problems when some planes will be used next winter on flights to Hawaii.

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Although WestJet began testing its 767 fleet on flights to Hawaii last winter, it didn’t encounter problems as it did on its Gatwick route. The difference was the Hawaii flights were shorter and less frequent, instead of 56 flights a week on the London route.

The airline also took a hit for service delays. Under European Union rules, the airline had to pay out €600 per person, about $870, for delays exceeding three hours or cancellations. That payment can be in cash or for future travel, but 90 per cent chose cash.

“These planes are very full. Every time, there is a hiccup, it’s 260 people we’re paying €600,” Saretsky said of the 262-seat planes. “It doesn’t take long in a quarter to rack up a significant bill.”

While second-quarter profit was down 40 per cent from the year before, WestJet said revenues were $949.3 million, up from $942 million last year. The number of passengers flown was up 7 per cent, to 5.30 million in the quarter.

The airline launched UK service from six Canadian cities including Toronto with four used 767 airplanes, bought from Qantas Airways.

Faced with repeated delays on that route, WestJet had to rent an extra airplane in June – though that spare plane has since been returned.

In the first 25 days of July, the airline had no cancellations. Its reliability rate for the 767 fleet to Gatwick is now 97.6 percent, or just one percentage point below its 737 fleet.

Saretsky remains optimistic about wide-body flying, saying the airline has seen little impact from the Brexit vote, which has weakened the pound sterling after UK voters to leave the European Union in June.

“We have been very pleasantly surprised by the robust demand,” he said, adding those London routes at flying at very high load factors, expecting the routes to be profitable this year.

As well, WestJet has also seen growth in flying non-Canadians to and from London, via a third country such as the United States.

“All of this bodes well for expansion of the wide body operation,” he said, though he added WestJet has no immediate plans to expand.

That’s because WestJet still faces a big hurdle – getting its pilots to sign on to additional wide-body flying, as its agreement applies only to the four planes, begun as an experiment of sorts.

“We’re not sure why there would be objections,” Saretsky said. “But I will tell you there is a view among the pilots that the deal they struck for the first four aircraft would not be reflective of what they would expect.”

He said the parties are discussing what that deal might look like, but added it must provide the economics to expand the fleet.

“If we can’t come to terms, then there will be no expansion of that fleet. It’s a simple as that,” said Saretsky, who remains hopeful of a solution.

WestJet said it is keeping an eye on NewLeaf Travel’s launch this week, a no-frills upstart that is promising super low fares.

“With the number of aircraft – the math isn’t that significant,” said Bob Cummings, WestJet’s executive vice-president, commercial.

NewLeaf is offering direct flights between smaller airports like Hamilton and Halifax, only a few times a week, starting with three planes. “The potential impact, it is not that big at this point, but we are certainly a keeping an eye on it,” Cumming said.

Saretsky noted that Canada is a “very sparsely populated country,” and the “space that NewLeaf is competing in is a boneyard.”

He pointed to Jetsgo, Greyhound Air and Roots Air, noting none of them made it. “It’s a difficult space, and we are going to continue to protect our franchise.”

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